


Red Spider Lilies

by starsinjars



Category: Death Note, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Apples, Chess of Wits, Crossover, I really hate tagging, Kinda, M/M, Murder Mystery, Psychological Warfare, Shinigami, Shotacon, Yaoi, moved from ffnet, xover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 16:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2627885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsinjars/pseuds/starsinjars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ill-fated encounter causes for Edogawa Conan to discover his reason for his passion, his misfortune, and somehow end up on one of the biggest murder cases of the century: The Kira Case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Apples

**Author's Note:**

> Time frame for your convenience: This is randomly occurring in Detective Conan, because I don’t know where to place this in that series, of course after a few Kid cases and is taking from movie canon where Kid knows Conan is Shinichi. In Death Note, this is occurring after Light and L have indeed met in person but L has not asked for Light to help out in investigation just yet.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

_i: Apples_

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Perhaps if he didn't respond to the challenge he was given, Kudou Shinichi may have forever been in ignorance about the true nature of and in between the fragile gift of mortality, life, death, and his role in it.

But as it was, Edogawa Conan responded to the letter he received, and was none too pleased to find 'Shinichi-nii-chan' waiting for him in a bench by the large marble fountain in the middle of the park.

So Conan slowed in his approach by jumping off that special solar-powered skateboard that the professor made just for him, catching it in his hands as it gained some air before coming down by Newton's Law, and took the few footsteps he needed to take to reach his 'relative', none too happy to do so.

The chibi detective reached in his pocket and pulled out the answer to the riddle - a familiar, red symbolic fruit that may in fact not be as symbolic as most believe. He tossed the apple at the teen to grab his attention, which was stolen by the music he was listening to. "Can we finish playing these silly games?" Conan asked as Shinichi opened his eyes, pulled out the earbud headphones from his ears and managed to catch the apple without a fumble. 

The older brunet blinked before he took a look at the answer that the child had given him. He nodded his head. "Ah. I wasn't sure if you would take the pomegranate route." He threw it back to the child, who caught it swiftly in his hands.

Conan snorted. "Too many seeds for my taste." He took a bite, having washed it beforehand, and tossed it back to Shinichi. "Now what?" But he already knew the answer to that.

Shinichi also took a bite before just tossing it in the nearby waste bin. "I say you let me treat you out for lunch," the older brunet said, getting up from his bench, pocketing his mp3 player and bringing the headphone wire around the back of his neck so he wouldn't have to roll it up. He pointed to a nearby shoppe. "There's this nice café that has some awesome parfaits."

“Parfaits aren’t a meal.” The child signed before looking away and towards the ground. "...Can you stop looking like him please?" Conan mumbled, blushing slightly. "What if Ran shows up?" 

Shinichi laughed, bending down to pat Conan on the head. "But, Tantei-kun, you're the one who refuses to acknowledge my secret identity. Besides, it's so much fun to see you so embarrassed that I'm taking your cousin's appearance." He stuck out his tongue. 

Conan looked back up and rolled his eyes. "You know what, Kid? I question why I would ever want to hang out with you outside of your heists."

Kid took Conan's hand and began to skip towards the cafe, pulling the child along for the ride. "That, Tantei-kun, is because you love me!"

Conan widened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he stood in his spot. "Ex _cuse_  me?"

Unfazed, Kid continued to say, "But it's okay, I love you too!", before scooping Conan up in his arms and planting him a kiss on the cheek.

Conan widened his eyes even larger and ended up blushing hotly before flailing his arms around. "In a completely platonic way! Release me!" he demanded. 

Kid sighed, shrugging a bit. "Fine, fine, but I'm still paying for whatever you'd like to eat." He twirled, placing Conan back down on the bricked walkway. The child smoothed out the ends of his blazer before just walking towards the café the impersonating thief wished to bring him to.

Conan was still pretty flustered. "Don't ever do that again," he muttered, waiting for the blush to die down. That Kaitou Kid was way too flirty with him! He knew he was a gentleman, but this was just too much. It... was almost like he was treating Conan like a lady, and Conan did not want that. 

Someone passing by made Conan turn, the detective getting cold chills down his spine a sign to do so. By doing so, he found it to be a high school student from Daikoku Private Academy - based on the uniform - and Conan was surprised to actually recognize the student. It was Yagami Light, one of the top students in all of Japan.

Shinichi was upset when he wasn't number one, but apparently detective work affected that status, regardless of test scores. Two points. Two points away from perfect! Shinichi really didn't need to know that it was his school attendance that those points were based off of. Like how did  _that_  affect his intelligence? When there was a mystery of the criminalistic nature, he had to solve it! He...he just had to. Especially since most cases concerning him - but as Conan especially - were of murders. No one wants to let a murder case run cold. That was just too...cold.

Something...was  _off_  concerning Yagami Light though – just a vibe Conan was getting. 

Suddenly, the teen turned and Conan, not wanting to be caught staring, looked away and found himself staring at the trash can.

Conan’s blood ran cold and eyes widened behind his unnecessary lenses.

It was there where he saw something he could not believe, or understand, with his eyes.

A...humanoid creature...was reaching inside the trashcan with its long arms and, after an exclamation of, "Found it!", pulled out the apple that he and Kid tossed a few short minutes ago. ...It...had bluish skin, black feathered wings, and bulging yellow eyes glistened as...it...munched on the apple, even eating the core. "Why humans would waste a perfectly good apple is something that baffles me," it said before it took another bite. 

Conan didn't know who it was talking to but he hoped beyond hoped it was not him.

But what attracted Conan's attention most were the red irises, which slowly turned to the shrunken teen. The detective’s heart stopped as he found himself paralyzed and he locked gazes with the creature.  
  
It froze mid-chew, staring at Conan, and widened its eyes. It then raised a pointed finger to the shrunken child. "You..."  
  
And then Conan could hear the creature's crude laughter, its cruel portrayal of its amusement at the current situation before finishing the apple, core and all. And it may have said more, it may have said nothing at all. All the shrunken teen knew was that he could feel himself about to collapse to the floor from being so weak in the knees.  
  
Someone grabbed Conan's shoulder, and spun Conan around to get face to face with him.  
  
"Conan-kun?"  
  
Conan took a sharp intake of breath; he didn't know he had stopped breathing. "K-Kid..." He didn't realize he was trembling as he continued to feel the gaze of the creature and another on his small frame. Bringing his hands to rub his cold arms, his arms were still quivering, unnerved from the stares he could feel.

Kid, still looking like Shinichi, frowned. He bent down to the diminutive detective, who was shaking like a leaf, and reached out to touch his face. Conan didn't even swat him away as he usually would - not even flinching. It was as if the thief wasn't even there, which concerned him. When Conan began to hyperventilate, Kid realized it marked the beginnings of a panic attack. He took his shoulders and shook him a bit. "Are you alright? It looks like you've seen a ghost." The teen widened his eyes. He lowered his voice. "You can't see ghosts...can you?"  
  
Conan finally pushed Kid away before he shook his head madly. "N-no, I cannot see ghosts." 

But the statement was shaky, as if the speaker was starting to have doubts on the fact himself. 

Conan grabbed onto Kid's jeans, tugging for dear life and in the opposite direction of the thing by the trash. "I-I... Le-let's just go. Pl-please..."  
  
Kid raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. However, he did pick up Conan by the underarms, and adjusted him as such so that he could sit on his arm. The chibi detective's arms could and would wrap around Kid’s neck, Conan closing his eyes as he rested his head on it as well, before Kid started walking in the opposite way, even if the café wasn't in that direction.  
  
Conan hasn’t stopped shivering.  
  
"Excuse me for a moment."  
  
Kid paused, and turned to the voice, which luckily was at a 45 degree angle, and found the national honors student who has been silent but there the whole time. Kid knew he was there, that Conan accidentally bumped into him before staring at the trashcan. Kid took a quick peek at the waste bin, but saw nothing that would be so frightening to his young rival.  

Kid didn’t know whether or not the real Shinichi would’ve stayed to talk with this other person, but he doubt he would’ve if his cousin was so freaked out over something. He lowered Conan’s head before he tried to continue walking. “I’m sorry, I’m rather busy at the moment.” He managed to take about four steps, but the student grabbed hold of his free shoulder, causing for Kid to spin around back towards him and towards the trashcan. Conan gave a faint whimper and closed his eyes tightly.

The other teen continued to say, “You’re Kudou Shinichi, aren’t you? That famous high school detective?" 

Kid laughed nervously; he should have switched back to Kuroba Kaito when he had the chance. “Y-yeah, thanks, but -”

“But you haven’t been in the news lately." He shook his head. "A shame, I was such a huge fan of your work. Please, let me introduce myself.” The brunet smiled warmly. “I’m Yagami Light. It's an honor to meet you in person.”

Now why was that name so familiar? “Yagami Light?” Kid widened his eyes; he has heard of that name. “Aren’t you one of the top students in all of Japan?”

Light shrugged. “I try.” He looked over to Conan in Kid’s arms. “Is he okay?”

Conan refused to look up, twitching slightly, causing for Kid to furry his eyebrows. The detective really wanted to leave. “Actually, I don’t think so. I’m going to take him home. It was nice meeting you, Yagami-kun.” Kid began walking again.

Light quickly stepped forward before Kid could go two steps, which caused for Kid to stay back a little longer as to not tarnish Shinichi’s reputation. He asked, “Would it be possible to get together some time? I myself would like to become a detective and would like to know some tips from a specialist out on the field. He can come too...”

Kid looked to Conan to see if he was going to introduce himself, but it seemed highly unlikely. “He's my cousin.”

"Cousin...?"

Kid knew what it was. Light really wanted a name, but Kid didn't know if he should give it.

"Edogawa Conan," came the faint whisper that Kid and Light barely heard, but the speaker still refused to look up.

Light widened his eyes very slightly before nodding. "Ah, I've seen his name a few times in the paper as well, for the Kaitou Kid cases. Yes, Edogawa-kun can come along," said Light, looking at the child, causing for Conan to shiver. 

"Uh," Kid started, not really wanting to meet up with this person. He felt a vibration from his phone and quickly knew what to do. He pulled it out and took a quick peek - it was from Aoko asking where he was since he didn't answer his front door. "When I'm available. It was great meeting up with you, Yagami-kun. Now if you would excuse me, I really have to get going..." Kid quickly walked away, knowing that now he had an excuse to leave and left without exchanging any contact information, even if incorrect. 

Light coughed rather loudly, causing for Kid to pause and he knew he should’ve have done so. "Uh, contact information?" 

Kid mentally cursed. It was worth a shot. He had no choice now. "Sure." He gave his own cell phone number, not knowing what else to give, and just took down Light's own. 

After exchanging information, Light said, "Edogawa-kun can come too; in fact I think it would be best since he must be about ten years younger than me and already has a reputation. Would that be okay?"

Conan didn't reply, and so Kid said, "Maybe, if I'm allowed to. Depends if Ran lets me. Anyway, I need to get going. Bye!" He quickly left Light standing there with the chibi detective in his arms.

After they had gone a safe distance, Kid asked, "He's gone now. Tantei-kun, are you okay?"

"I don't want to see him again." 

Kid blinked, the detective's voice was so firm when previously he was so shaken. "What's wrong?"

Conan looked up and shook his head. "Let's just go get some smoothies or something."

Kid said nothing, just carried on maneuvering around so that they wouldn't see Yagami Light again.

Conan's body felt so cold, and he didn’t know why he was so scared. But he felt as if he had just witnessed something unnatural, something that he wasn’t supposed to see.

And it was going to change everything.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

L stared intently on the screen, watching the footage of Light in the park with two other individuals. He looked at another screen, which was of a typed dialogue of what was being said between the three. "Watari, try to get into contact with Kudou Shinichi I suppose."

Watari looked up from pouring the tea. "Ryuzaki?"

L bit his thumbnail as he unwrapped the sugar cubes to place in his tea. "Light-kun seemed particularly interested in Conan-kun. This is most curious.” He typed away on the computer and pulled up some files on Kudou Shinichi and began scrolling with one hand and put more sugar cubes in his tea with the other. “Shinichi-kun hasn’t been in the news lately…and we haven't been in contact with him but if Conan-kun is his cousin, he must also be involved.” He clicked away on his mouse and began to open and read some more files and documents he opened up of Edogawa Conan, pushing away the cup of tea and just grabbing an unwrapped sugar cube and popping it in his mouth. “Not much on Conan-kun, he’s mostly just seen barely in the snapshots with the Great Sleeping Kurogo…hm. Looks like he really is sleeping.”

“Isn’t that where he gets his name?” Watari asked as he handed L a berry trifle along with a spoon to eat it with.

“But it looks like he really is sleeping.” Without taking his eyes off the screen, he took the handed treat as he scrolled down some more, stopping at a picture of Conan taken during the Blue Wonder Heist of Kaitou Kid. He began reading the article with much interest, even pulling up some articles on Kaitou Kid for some back interest, but mostly just skimmed for Conan’s involvement in them, which majorly was the case.

L sucked on the spoon that was used for the trifle. “What makes you so interesting, Conan-kun?"

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**


	2. Strawberry Parfaits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick Recap: While meeting up with Kaitou Kid – disguised as Kudou Shinichi – in the park, Conan runs into honor student Yagami Light and sees a horrifying sight om-nom-noming on the discarded apple he had just tossed. Scared out of his wits, he and Kid leave, but not before Kid is forced to exchange information with the fanboy high school student. L is a creep.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

_ii. Strawberry Parfaits_

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Conan winced, putting a hand to his cheek to rub it tenderly. “Ow!”

Kid, looking exactly like Shinichi save for the purple contacts in his eyes and much, _much_ messier hair, blinked. He put down his spoon on the red velvet napkin beside his sundae cup, but not before licking it clean of the whipped cream. “What’s wrong?” he asked, genuinely concerned for the small detective.

Conan made a face, lips contorted in pain to reveal a pout. “My tooth hurts.”

Kid smirked, picking up his spoon and pointed it accusingly at the child in front of him. “You haven’t been gorging on your sweets, have you, Tantei-kun?”

Conan looked flabbergasted. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

Kid snorted as he shook his head, glancing at the scrawny arms on the table. “I said no such thing.”

“Implication is all that matters,” Conan retorted as he tried another spoonful of his cake, only to wince as he retracted. He placed his hand to his cheek, biting it. “It hurts…” He shoved aside the treat that Kid had ordered for him, crossing his arms. He stared at it forlornly, pouting all the while. “And it was so delicious too…”

“We’ll just have to come back as soon as possible then,” Kid replied as he scooted his hand over to Conan’s discarded parfait and tugged it to his side of the table. “As soon as your tooth’s better. I mean – it’s not like it’s going anywhere or anything.” He picked up his own spoon and dived into the glass, consuming the treat as quickly as he finished his own earlier.

Conan nodded, still with a scowl on his face as he watched Kid steal and quickly finish his strawberry parfait. “I suppose I have little say in the matter?”

“You suppose correctly, Tantei-kun,” Kid answered, sucking on the spoon before placing it back in the empty cup. “Hmm,” he started, getting a good look at the clock and noting that he had a good thirty minutes left before he were to take Conan back home less Ran realizes he was missing.

Conan cleared his throat to regain his attention. “Yes?”

"So," Kid drawled as he slid his empty glass aside to look at Conan straight in the eye. "Think you can explain to me what happened a good fifteen minutes ago?"

For a moment, Kid could have sworn that the temperature in the room had positively dropped a good ten degrees for a minute before Conan quietly answered, "I doubt anyone will ever get an answer for that. Myself included."

His tone was clipped and had the glare that just screamed: ‘ _End of discussion’._

But. But but. Somehow, Kid really thought he could get the spooked detective to say _something_ to address the situation. They didn’t have any secrets, save for his true identity - as well as motive for thievery. Concerning those details, Conan was firm that Kid keep to himself.

Conan didn’t need to know that he was his true face now, save the contacts.

He said that it wouldn’t be right, and that even though he was sure that his motives were just ( _in some sort of twisted way_ , Kaito heard him mutter under his breath that day) – technically speaking, heists were previously the only way the two could actually see one another. Not to mention the fact that they had _met_ during a heist so…

The chibi detective was just so…so knowledgeable on matters that were considered for mature audiences. Though it wasn’t hard, considering that he was related to the insanely gifted Kudous. And he really did take after the missing-in-action high school detective Kudou Shinichi.

Kid stood up and leaned across the table. "You mean to tell me that you have a phobia of trash cans?" he asked in total seriousness, not caring when a few other customers leaving laughed at his strange words out of context. Even in context it sounded ridiculous. Edogawa Conan, the boy whom Death follows at every turn, afraid of trash cans? Please.

"..." Not catching the wording of his words when he knew what he really meant, Conan was deep in thought, eyes calculating. Leaving Kid hanging for a few moments he replied, "I honestly cannot give a proper answer."

Kid eyed the detective carefully for a good minute or so before nodding, albeit slowly. He pulled back and sat back down. "If you say so," he said, looking at the empty glasses. Pushing them aside and reaching for the menu he added, “Do you want to get something else or - ”

“I’m sorry.”

Kid frowned, looking up from the menu and saw Conan looking down, fiddling with his nails. “Whatever for?”

He wasn’t teasing - far from it. No, he wasn’t calling Conan crazy. He was genuinely concerned and really wanted to help. The only way he could do so, however, was if he knew what exactly was going on.

He can’t help when he doesn't know the full situation.

But then again, he was assuming that Conan knew everything. He usually always does. Sooner or later anyway. The chibi detective was just that brilliant - able to solve cases and help the police put the correct criminal behind bars.

And he will figure this out as well. Conan is a detective after all, and they don’t like to leave mysteries unsolved.

Conan opened his mouth to reply, before promptly closing it. Watching him from the edges of the card that listed various pastries and beverages, Kid saw the small traces of a smile forming on baby-fat cheeks. He looked up to Kid and was about to reply, before he blinked, eyes wide. He tilted his head, looking past Kid and staring out the window. His jaw dropped.

“Because Ran’s outside.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Edogawa Conan, you are in so much trouble!”

“I’m sorry, Ran-nee-chan, but I promise - ”

“Do you know how worried I was when I found out you weren’t home? And I called all the other children - even the Professor - and no one knew where you where?”

Conan frowned; he should have called and asked for the Professor and Haibara to cover for him… or that they would have had the idea to cover for him. Still, then they would have found him with the phantom thief, and that would have been harder to explain than to his in loco parentis. “I - ”

Not noticing the attempt at interruption, Ran continued with her stern lecturing in front of the café, not caring if she was making a scene. “I thought you could have gotten kidnapped or something! It wouldn't have been the first time!”

Normally this topic would have made Kid shake with anger, because he himself was deeply scared when he had heard of Conan getting kidnapped or being put in a hostage situation, but Conan made him swear not to get involved unless it has been a few days. Luckily Conan never went missing long enough for Kid to actually do something.

Conan was trembling. “R-Ran-nee-chan, I - ”

But enough is enough. Conan has been through what seemed to be a traumatic experience. Ran yelling probably wouldn’t make anything better.

“Excuse me, Miss,” Kid started, stepping forward, but he felt a small hand be placed on his leg. Looking down, Conan was shaking his head. He pouted, but Conan continued to shake his head as Ran was currently monologuing on how dangerous the world could be for a six year old. So Kid stepped back and bowed his head as he continued to get yelled at. He did, however, maneuver all of them so that they were away from the café, and saw from the corner of his eye that the cashier gave a grateful smile in return.

“And you!” She turned and scrutinized the older teen next to her ward. “Your kidnapper is…” She paused, blinking in confusion for a moment and losing her rage. “Wait. Do I know you…?”

“No you do not,” Kid quickly replied, not wanting to get involved in the woman’s wrath. No he didn’t want Ran to know him at all. He wasn’t ready to get involved in Conan’s life like that yet, and neither was the detective. Both were a secret to the other’s home life. And they currently intended to keep it that way.

Still, he didn’t want Conan to get yelled at anymore. He doubt that he had yet to fully recover from whatever was troubling him with Yagami Light and the trashcan.“ Though I don’t think you should be mad at Conan, I was just protecting him from someone who did want to kidnap him,” he replied, an idea forming in his mind.

Ran widened her eyes. “What?”

“Watch for Yagami Light,” Kid warned, deathly serious and didn’t take Conan’s furious expression as a warning to stop. “He showed a rather keen interest in Conan-kun, so it would be for the best to keep an eye out for him.”

Ran frowned. “Yagami… Light…” She thought about it for a moment before it came it her. “Oh! One of the top students in Japan Yagami Light?” She pursed her lips. “Funny, I ran into him a few minutes ago. I wasn’t sure it was him but he just walked right past me.”

Conan sighed, most likely with relief that the strange student didn’t recognize Ran. “Ran-chan,” he said, “I’m sorry for running off, I had a rendez-vous with a friend of mine. He’s my…” Conan trailed off, brainstorming what Kid could be to him.

Friend? Lost friend? Friend of family? Related to Shinichi? Scratch that one, that would be a bad idea.

Ran frowned. “Renez-vous… isn’t that a date?”

…Boyfriend?!

“Pen pal!” Kid finished, grinning at Ran. “We’re pen pals and this is the first time we were able to meet in person. I knew Conan-kun had a sweet tooth from his letters so I wanted to treat him to my favorite dessert here. I know it’s a popular place for dates but I wanted our first meeting to be very special.” Kid couldn’t help but wink at Conan as he blushed, keeping his gaze on the ground.

Ran turned to Conan. “Conan-kun, is this true?”

Conan nodded, still staring at the ground. “Yes, Ran-nee-chan.” He rubbed his cheek. “But my tooth hurts so I wasn’t able to even eat anything.”

Ran bent down to Conan’s level. Conan opened his mouth wide as prompt. She studied it carefully, moving Conan’s chin around to get a better look in the light. Kid just stood there awkwardly, not knowing if he was allowed to leave. Not that he wanted to leave just yet; he wanted to make sure that his ‘pen pal’ was okay before doing so. After all, what kind of ‘pen pal’ would he be if he didn’t care for his… pal’s health?

“I don’t know,” Ran said finally, removing her hand from Conan and standing back up. “We’ll have to go to the dentist, Conan-kun.”

Conan and Kid grimaced. The latter whispered “Ouch” under his breath and Conan jabbed him with his elbow. “Do we have to, Ran-nee-chan?” he asked, shuffling his feet nervously and staring at his red sneakers. “I’d rather just brush my teeth as best as I can.”

Ran shook her head. “You’re just like Shinichi. Dental hygiene is important, Conan-kun, and it’s best to leave it to the experts.”

“Okay, Ran-nee-chan,” Conan replied in defeat, and took Ran’s hand when she held it out. They both looked to Kid, who was staring at Conan. Feeling the eyes stare at him, he chuckled nervously.

"I'll take Conan-kun home," he said, grabbing Conan's hand and walking out of the park.

"See you home, Ran-nee-chan!" Conan waved, faking cheer.

Ran didn't notice it as she watched them leave.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

L watched on the illuminated screen as the trio interacted with one another, then pointed to another screen as his chewed on his thumbnail.

“Look, Watari. Light is there. I’m 93.7% sure he’s watching them. The question is why. Why did he show so much interest in Conan-kun?”

“L, I looked up records of Conan Edogawa. Besides his mentions in the newspaper, there’s nothing to be found. No birth records, some recent medical records that are too recent to have been from birth, nothing. It’s as if Conan Edogawa should not exist.”

L paused in biting his nail as he absorbed the information. He bit once more and murmured while he watched Conan leave with Mouri Ran, daughter of the great Sleeping Kogoro, “Interesting.”

“L?" 

“Watari,” L turned and removed himself from his chair. “I think I’m going to report a case to the Mouri Agency.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	3. Blowing Raspberries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> QVR: Ran discovers that Kid/Kaito and Conan are pen pals and L readies a case.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

iii. Blowing Raspberries

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a simple errand. Light has to stop by the grocery store on his way home to pick up some raspberries for his mother. He didn’t particularly enjoy raspberries, but his family did immensely and they had run out that morning after Sayu placed the last ones in her oatmeal. As a chore, he was asked to grab some on his way back home from school.

He wasn’t expecting much on this trip, if he was expecting anything at all. He knew he had to be careful because he was L’s only suspect and L was probably watching him through all the security cameras Japan had to offer. So it was to go to the grocery store, grab some raspberries, then go home so he could continue the façade of playing a student.

Not having time to bring a prop, it was only himself visible when he walked to the small grocery store with Ryuuk in toe. The invisible shinigami made a few comments, asking for Light to buy apples and such, but Light paid them no mind as he decided to take a shortcut home through the park.

Light was almost out of the park when he no longer felt a presence behind him. He stalled, and heard the rustling of trash. Now why would Ryuuk be searching through the trash? Was he that desperate for apples to grab some cores if he saw any?

“Found it! Why humans would waste a perfectly good apple is something that baffles me.”

Light turned, wanting to glare at Ryuuk to pay attention and continue to follow him back home, and saw that a young child was staring directly at Ryuuk, mouth gaped in horror as _if he could actually see the shinigami in front of him._

Ryuuk noticed this as well. He seemed to be in shock as he also stared at the child, which is saying much since he was a death god, and pointed a finger to the child. “You…"

The child looked like he was about to faint when Ryuuk began that disturbing laugh of his.

Light kept his gaze on the child. Who was this boy? Did he know Ryuuk? Did he know about the death notes? Did he see him and know that he was Kira? What did he know? _Why is Ryuuk laughing?_

“Conan-kun!” Conan. Light knew this name; he has seen it fairly recently and it was not a common name to have in Japan. Where did he last see it… In the paper. The boy, Edogawa Conan, helped stop a Kaitou Kid heist.

The child who tagged along with the Sleeping, Shinigami Kogoro.

"I-I... Le-let's just go. Pl-please..."

He couldn’t just let this one slide.

"Excuse me for a moment."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Light was starting to get pissed off. “What the hell is so funny, Ryuuk?”

Ryuuk couldn’t answer, struggling to breathe when he didn’t have to.

He wiped away an imaginary tear. “Oh, Light, you never cease to amaze.”

“Ryuuk!”

Ryuuk stuck his tongue out and blew Light a raspberry.

“As if I’ll ever tell you.”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Brrzt. Brrrrzt.

The cellphone vibrated in Kaito’s hand, and he just stared at it from the corner of his eye until the vibrations stopped, causing for the teen to be left with yet another missed call, adding to about maybe the seventh missed call. All from the same person.

Again, Kaito really regretted that moment for not switching out of his disguise while he had the chance for the nth time. Now he had that suspicious Yagami Light character’s number, who also had his own, but the situation at the time didn’t leave him with much options.

It was better than giving Conan’s phone number…

He shook his head before sighing. It’s been two days since he’s seen the little detective, having decided it would be best to just bring Conan home considering that Kaito had the feeling that they were still being watched, even after leaving. Not to mention the mood had been ruined, but that’s beside the point. It’s all fun and games before a chibi detective starts having a panic attack and hyperventilating in the public park.

As soon as they arrived at the front of the Mouri Detective Agency, Kaito gently placed Conan down on the sidewalk before deciding to throw caution to the wind and, before he could talk himself out of it, planted a quick kiss on the forehead.

…Not even a hint of a response. The child just stared blankly on the concrete, as if trying to avoid the eye contact.

As much as the thief wanted to make sure he was safely inside, he was still disguised as Kudo Shinichi and that would not fare well with Mouri-san. And so he left to attend to Aoko, but not before giving the detective a gentle nudge up the stairs. The rest of the day consisted of helping Aoko with her boxes, because she wanted to donate some of her old belongings.

It’s been about two days since then, and Conan’s been doing the same as Kaito was doing to Light – not answering his phone calls. It would ring once before ending with a beep, not even an answering machine to which Kaito could yell to. But where Light called four times, Kaito called thirteen. He was even thinking of making a heist.

Conan doesn’t get depressed for anything. That child has seen death in the face, and not even that unfazed the boy. Needless to say, Kaito was quite concerned.

Still, he supposed that what was in the past was in the past, and if Conan could recover from that random breakdown, he supposed he could get over it too.

And besides, it’s only been two days.

When his phone rang, Kaito immediately answered and pressed the phone to his ear. He would’ve usually let it go on for a little longer, because he wanted to listen, but he didn’t hesitate. 

After all, it was preset to this ringtone only when a certain person called.

“Tantei-kun?”

There was a groan on the other line. “I swear, if you call me one more time people are going to start thinking I have a clingy girlfriend or something.”

Kaito blinked rapidly, not like the other person on the phone could see it. “…I was concerned.”

“And because I threw the phone out the window I had to ask for another one.” The other line sounded off as he ended his explanation and Conan took a breath before continuing. “That’s why I haven’t been able to answer. My number was salvaged, since Ran-onee-chan knows I like to wander off, so all your calls were redirected to another number, who I told to reject any callers that happened to call me if they weren’t expecting any.”

Kaito frowned. “Why would you do that?”

The question was directed to two scenarios – why did Conan throw his phone out the window? Why did Conan request to have all his calls rejected?

There was a short silence before Conan merely sighed. “They told me to call you because your number was so frequent. Heck, I even told them to reject if my parents called or something, but it was only you!” He sighed once more. “So, do you want to go to that café or something? Since, you know, we weren’t able to go last time.”

A change in topic, but Kaito didn’t mind. He smirked. “You mean meet up? Like right now?”

“Sure,” Conan said. “And, um, please…” He trailed off.

Kaito pressed the phone closer to his ear. “Yes?”

A slight pause. “Never mind. I’ll see you in…”

“Ten minutes.” Kaito clicked the red button and hung up before grabbing his jacket and ran out the door, leaving a confused Jii-chan behind.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As Conan hung up the phone, he turned, looking around, and spotted an open window just by Oji-san’s desk. Before making his way outside and to the park to where Kid would meet him in about ten minutes, he reached out to close it and took a peek through the class that was slightly covering his view with the kanji for customers to notice.

He quickly ducked, heart beating a mile a minute, as he closed his eyes and placed his hands over his ears.

There, by the clouds, was that thing he saw by the trash can in the park two days ago with Yagami Light, flying around, looking around, and Conan had a pretty good feeling he was looking for him.

“Please go away,” Conan breathed, rocking slowly back and forth. “I’m going to be late.”

Conan then heard the laughing, and then he realized he didn’t close the window all the way. “You can only hide for so long, Ai-chan,” he heard the raspy voice of the creature say before crackling into mad laughter that slowly but surely faded.

Conan waited about ten minutes before deciding to make his way to the park that was about fifteen minutes away.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o


	4. Cherry Lollipops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light’s POV at the park. Conan ignores phone calls but Kaito is persistent. They agree to meet at the park but Conan’s gonna be a little late since Ryuuk is roaming the streets, presumingly for him. Also Love.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

iv: Cherry Lollipops

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Conan Edogawa was late. He was late; he was late for a very important date.

Err, rendezvous. Whatever.

Not that it was his fault. That stupid… _thing_ was probably wandering the streets looking for him. He didn’t know how he knew that. He just did.

He knew somewhere along the line he fucked up big time.

Conan’s making his way down the stairs, with a cap and hood just in case, and is about to walk out the door when someone clears their throat.

Conan just ignored it, but when he turned the knob the throat is cleared again. Now Conan turned, pouting because he was already late as is and did not need this, and wasn’t so sure if that it was for the best and that he should have just pretended to not hear anything.

It was a client obviously. But he didn’t look like the type to ask for help. He was staring straight into Conan’s eyes, searching for something. Conan stared right back, not getting a good feeling about the person. He had long disheveled dark hair that went to his shoulders, and was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt with faded blue jeans. He was sucking on a red lollipop, cherry flavor if Conan had to guess.

The client spoke. “Conan-kun, I presume?”

Conan can hear the very faint tracings of an accent, but it’s not strong enough to be that noticeable. Still, he must not be Japanese then. He neither confirms nor denies. “If you would excuse me.” He turned back to the door, about to leave.

“I must insist that Conan-kun come along.”

This stopped Conan in his tracks. He slowly turned back to the party, frowning. He had to be half an hour late at this rate.

Ran shook her head and Korogo came to Conan’s defense. “Really, Ryuga-san, it’s not necessary --”

“Would you really allow a child to go unsupervised outside into the streets? I must insist that he come along for this case, for his safety if not anything else.” He said this without lifting his eyes from Conan; both back into a staring match, trying to assess the other.

“I have plans,” Conan tells the three. He’s not going to say with who and where but he does need to get going if he doesn’t want Kid to think that he bailed on him. “It’s fine.”

“Ryuga-san is right, Conan-kun,” Ran said, coming over to the young boy. “We always let you wander around and that isn’t good of us. Even though I think you’ve seen enough dead bodies for a lifetime, we’re still responsible for you and your safety.”

“Does that not include my sanity?” Conan muttered, hoping to appeal to the fact that he has seen too many dead bodies to count.

Ran was about to reply but Ryuga added, “If Conan-kun doesn’t come along I will take my business elsewhere.”

Only now does Conan see the large briefcase of money on the table.

This gets Korogo worked up. “No no no no no no!” He smiled at Ryuga. “We will gladly take the kid with us if that’s what you insist, Ryuga-san. You’re the client after all.” He looked to Ran and Conan in turn. “Ran, take Conan-kun so we can leave.”

Ran reached out for Conan, who has no choice but to come along. Conan let her take his hand and walk him to the door, but not before sighing and taking out his phone to text Kid that he wasn’t going to be able to make it.

“And what’s your name?” Conan asked, since it wasn’t right for him not to know.

The client smiled. “Ryuga Hideki.”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

“So, Conan-kun,” Hideki said, staring straight at the boy who’s playing with his phone. “Do you like coming to cases?”

Conan ignored him in favor of his phone. _i won’t be able to make it :U_

The reply was immediate. WHAT??

_i got dragged into a case. :p_

“Conan-kun, Ryuga-san is talking to you,” Ran chided, laughing nervously. With the three of them in the backseat and Kogoro driving, it was more than a little awkward. Especially since Hideki seemed fixated on Conan, who wanted nothing to do with him.

“Hmm?” Conan looked up, looking right into Hideki’s eyes. “Sometimes, but not when I have other plans,” he replied as he looked back to his phone, texting away.

don’t you like going to cases?

_well yeah but not when im supposed to meet up with you_

aww tantei-kun, that’s sweet <3

_shut it im pretty pissed off right now. i don’t have a good feeling about this guy._

“What’s the case about?” Conan asked, slightly curious. do you want me to meet you at where you’re going?

“We’re heading to Shino Dentistry,” Hideki replied. “My family owns it and a death has taken place there.”

_shino dentistry_

shit that’s at the other side of town. “And what makes you so sure it was a murder?” Conan asked.

 _you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. i can handle it._ “Well, that’s what you’re here to investigate, is it not?” _give me twenty minutes_

alright, i’ll wait here by the cafe for you. The car stopped. “We’re here,” Kogoro said. All four of them stepped out of the car, Conan placing his phone back in his pocket. Following Hideki’s lead, they made their way inside. There were about four people inside, three of them assistants and the fourth the dentist most likely. Hideki led them to the body inside one of the rooms inside.

“These are the things we know,” he said, giving them background information. “The victim’s name is Yamada Tarou. He is – or should I say was – 24 years old. Cause of death, unknown.”

Conan had given himself a time limit. He needs to finish this case in about ten minutes then make it to the other side of town in the other half. He tuned everything out in order to concentrate. A passing thought was that Yamada Tarou was a pretty generic name. The cause of death had to be through poison, since there was no indication of any rough housing or injury through physical means. He listened to the testimonies of the witnesses/suspects. There were really only two people that interacted with the victim: the secretary and the assistant. The obvious suspect was the assistant since she was the last person to actually see Tarou when he was last alive. Now all he needed to do was examine the crime scene. Everyone else was so slow; there wasn’t any time to give them any helpful hints.

Conan was too busy investigating he didn’t notice the scrutinizing gaze of Hideki.

Finally, with two minutes overtime, he figured it out. Now all he needed to do was get Kogoro and then with his skateboard conveniently in his backpack he could probably make it to the park in about seven minutes. Which gives him a minute to spare.

Kogoro is in the prime position and Conan is aiming his watch when there’s a hand on his shoulder.

“So, Conan-kun,” Hideki whispered in his ear. “Have you figured it out yet?”

Conan looked to him and laughed nervously. “What are you saying, Ryuga-san? I’m not the detective; Mouri-san is.”

Hideki curled his lip into a smile. “Right.” He pat him on the back then walked away.

Conan looked at his watch. Five more minutes. He doesn’t have time to really dwell on what the weird client was saying. He hid behind a desk, took aim, and fired.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

“Wow, Tou-san! Who would have thought that the victim was framing Ahiru-chan for his death when really it was a suicide?”

“You know, I’m not entirely sure…”

“Okay the case is over gotta go bye!” Without waiting Conan made his way out the door, passing by Hideki on the way out.

Not noticing Hideki watching him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o


End file.
